Brave Infinite Vesperia
by Shintouyu
Summary: Ichika Orimura, you look like a girl! Go cut your hair! [Hiatus]
1. Prologue

**Brave Infinite Vesperia**

Flight One

_Prologue By Any Other Name_

_[Prologue]_

* * *

You of common heritage, whose character define that which is bravery and noble of heart.

You of knightly spirit, whose shoulders bear the weight of justice.

You of sword mastery, whose blades are wielded in the defense of others.

You of wolfen winds, whose tales honors the brightest star.

You of Terca Lumireis, whose legends will be told for ages to come.

_[You of the heroic soul shall be reborn in a world in need of your aid.]_

[...]

First name, Ichika, family name, Orimura; Ichika Orimura, fifteen years old Japanese male, that is our protagonist.

He is an orphan, his birth-parents had abandoned him and his older sister, Chifuyu Orimura, nearly ten years ago, and since then the pair had lived relatively on their own.

However, even Chifuyu Orimura would soon take leave out of much of Ichika's growing life.

It was not even a year passed after their orphaning when the thing known as 'Infinite Stratos,' or 'IS' for short, had became known world-wide due to a spectacular event dubbed 'The White Night Incident' which astounded the whole world.

These machines were revolutionary technology. They were originally designed for space exploration, however The White Night Incident had proven them to be far more capable of destruction than anyone else had thought possible.

A single unit, 'White Knight,' had destroyed over 2000 missiles and an entire military army on its own.

This blatant display of firepower caused a shift in the power-balance of the world. Everybody clamored to get their hands on an Infinite Stratos of their own, yet at the same time the 'Alaska Treaty' was drafted up and agreed upon by the nations to stop the misuse of such potent power.

But there was an unexpected catch: these Infinite Stratos could only be piloted by the fairer sex, by women, and so not only did the power-balance change in the military but also changed politically and daily; females soon became the dominate gender within society.

It was in no time at all did Chifuyu Orimura become one of the most world-renowned pilots ever seen and is in fact often considered the best there is to date.

It was only but a single year, just after every nation around the world had barely scratched the surface of the black-box that were the IS Cores, when it was decided that a world-wide tournament would be a good idea to flaunt new discoveries and advancements in the realm of Infinite Stratos development.

Mondo Grosso; that was the name of the tournament that is now held once every three years and the victor would earn fame, glory, and money and be crowned 'Brynhildr.'

Chifuyu Orimura was the first Brynhildr nine years ago but she was only a finalist during the second tournament six years ago. It was by a series of unfortunate events beyond her control that stole the throne of victory from her. Certain detractors that did not wish for her to win and had kidnapped Ichika during that time to force her to forfeit.

Their plan only worked half-right, as the older sister had easily forfeited the tournament but angrily stormed the mysterious organization's base of operations and tore them to shreds.

That day since Chifuyu Orimura had retired from being an Infinite Stratos pilot and rarely came home. So the young Ichika has been living relatively on his own ever since, living an ordinary but peaceful life for some years now.

Yet a simple but small moment of chance will change his entire life.

[...]

The pans sizzle, the pots boil, the plates click and clank as they are place on the table. Ichika is cooking up a light breakfast to eat, as the young fifteen year old boy did not want to be late to his high school examination.

Due to a cheating case last year, the government had only divulged the locations for each school's entrance exam only two days before the actual examination took place.

'What a drag, isn't that a bit excessive?' was Ichika's thoughts on the matter.

Still, there wasn't anything he could do about it, being an average teenager, and so he simply went with the flow.

Aoetsu Private School, that was Ichika's first choice of academic learning. It was relatively average in standards and also close to his home, more importantly though, the fees for attending were exceptionally inexpensive and almost inconsequential as most of the graduates were hired by the school's sponsor corporation.

Such requirements were a 'must' for Ichika. He felt some guilt for 'forcing' his sister to forfeit Mondo Grosso six years ago to save him and continually felt like a burden since she was also stilling paying for his living expenses as well.

'It seems I bring trouble wherever I go,' he chuckles to himself with a tinge of self-deprecation, 'I'm cursed, aren't I?' he mulls over the thought as he takes a bite from his toasted bread.

[...]

Fifteen minutes later, Ichika Orimura finished his breakfast and is walking outside in the cold spring weather. With his scarf wrapped around his neck, the teenage boy would look like a pretty girl if seen from the distance.

He had long straight black hair and equally dark black eyes. The shape of his face was rather sharp and rounded and his body frame wasn't all that noticeably different from a girl's when clothed. From appearances alone, a person would be hard-pressed to guess whether Ichika Orimura was male or female.

Of course, barring the idea of stripping him bare naked to have a look at his lean body or checking out his manhood, there was one extremely easy way to tell that he was male.

And that was by hearing his voice.

A deep and rich voice, it was one that expressed his youth easily but also intoned his roguish demeanor.

It was always quite a bother to him when somebody tried flirting with him, yet it was always his pleasure to break their delusion the moment he spoke a word. In fact, it was almost routine for Ichika's middle-school classmates to play a joke on their guy friends by having them unknowingly hit on him, only to have them become flustered when he turned them down because he didn't swing that way.

"Crap, am I lost...?" the boy mutters to himself.

He had arrived at his destination but this public facility was all too unknown to him, so he wasn't exactly sure where in this building was his examination actually taking place; it didn't help that the building seemed to be very labyrinth-like in design and he couldn't make heads or tail about where the hallways were suppose to lead to. There also didn't seem to be any people around to help guide the students to the proper location either, or at least he didn't find any around.

'Man, maybe I should have took a tour of this place two days ago...'

It was a bit embarrassing to Ichika that this was happening. He hoped that nobody would ever learn of this.

'Do I have to check every room?'

At this point, he was more worried at being stuck lost for hours than actually missing out on his entrance exam.

Opening the first door in sight, Ichika was unpleasantly greeted by the disgruntle rambling of an older woman.

"Ah, you're an examinee? Hurry up and go over there to get changed then. We can only borrow it for until 4:00pm and we're not getting an extension," the woman had said before mumbling, "Jeez. What is the government even thinking, rushing us like this..."

The woman had taken only a quick glance at Ichika, and before giving him time to respond, she had swiftly pushed him into a curtained section of the room and then walked away.

"What... what was that all about?" the shocked boy grumbles to himself, he was getting the odd feeling that he wasn't suppose to be here, "Changing clothes? Why?" And the step-by-step instructions that he was left with weren't helping that suspicion.

He wanted to brush the curtain aside and claim that he was in the wrong place but curiosity got the better of him.

What kind of examination took place in a dark room with only one other person around?

And so he turns around and spots the oddity immediately.

In the middle of the closed off section was a machine. It looked like a suit of armor, only incomplete and much too large for any normal human to walk around in. It had protections for the legs, arms, and shoulders that all seemed to hover yet were deathly still, and offered no more armor for anything else. Its form almost seemed like it was kneeling, like a knight swearing loyalty.

Ichika's mouth was wide open.

"That's... an IS!"

He had never seen one so up-close before and excitement changed his expression into a happy grin. It was certainly said and proven that only females could ever pilot an Infinite Stratos, but such thing did not bother the boy him all too much; Ichika only wanted to touch the machine.

Growing up, he had seen many videos and heard many stories about them, but the ones that struck a chord with him the most were the battles that his older sister participated in in the first and second Mondo Grosso.

He was simply awestruck by the capabilities of these machines.

He had watched many recordings of Chifuyu gracefully and skillfully defeating her opponents with but a mere energy-blade. Such splendor caused his blood to excitingly boil; when he was given the opportunity to learn swordsmanship with a childhood friend he practically jumped at the chance with great enthusiasm.

Even though the kidnapping event six-years ago had blown away much of his fire, to this day Ichika Orimura still gets riled up by the thoughts and memories of seeing two fierce warriors battle each other in high-speed combat. His lively imagination constantly prods his dreams of piloting an Infinite Stratos one day, even if he had to most likely settle for being an old man to ever see it happen in his lifetime.

'It really must be nice...' Ichika thinks to himself as one of his hands reaches out to touch the metal frame of the silent machine, 'to be able to pilot one of these things...'

His fingers lightly brush against the cold metal and a jolt shocks his mind.

He hears the howl of a wolf and then new information suddenly intrudes upon his conscious mind; knowledge of movement, characteristics, equipments, energy, radar, and so forth.

Within an instant Ichika simply knew that he could pilot an Infinite Stratos and a feral smile tears into his face.

The armor of the Infinite Stratos floats up and envelops him in its protection. The boosters hovers the machine up against the wooden floor. A small combat knife appears in his left hand. And all of it just felt so right, so complete, so exhilarating.

There was no doubt in him anymore.

Ichika Orimura instinctively understood.

He could pilot an Infinite Stratos.

The teen suppresses the urge to loudly laugh as he feels an exhilarating euphoria course through his entire body.

'I feel like I can take on the whole world!' he muses as he experiences reality through the Infinite Stratos' senses.

It was an odd thing, seeing the world with his human senses but also through the data of numbers that the machine interpreted. If anybody asked him what it was like then he wouldn't be able to properly explain it. But if he had to give a word to describe it then he would choose 'Flying.'

Suddenly the curtain is pushed aside and the woman from before returns. Again, she only takes a quick glance at Ichika with a mostly irked face.

"Well, it looks like you can activate an IS," she was recording something down on her tablet computer, "Okay, since you've got some talent, that means you pass," she stops her tapping only for a moment, "Name?"

The girlish looking boy smiles, "Orimura Ichika," and spoke his name with his teasingly deep voice.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Can I even call this a Crossover...?

This is just another story idea I have and, again, it's just for testing the water. I still have other on-going fanfics, so I have no idea when I'll get the chance to properly update this or make it a full-fledged story...

* * *

[9/16/12] Chapter uploaded.

[9/18/12] Extended the ending just a little bit.

[9/21/12] More proof-reading, minor editing, minor additional lines.

[9/27/12] More proof-reading and editing.

[11/16/12] More proof-reading and editing.


	2. All Girls Academy

**Brave Infinite Vesperia**

Flight Two

_The One And Only Infinite Stratos Academy_

_[All Girls Academy]_

* * *

Ichika Orimura sat in the middle-front of a large room. To his left were large window-panes and to his right was the door to enter and exit. In the classroom there were five columns of desk, enough to support a total of forty students, though there were only thirty here, and Ichika's desk would be the fourth column from the window or the second from the door.

The chairs were brown and flat, while the desks were steel-colored with touch-screens on them. In front of him was a podium and behind that was the blackboard which, in reality, was a giant screen. Even the door to his right was actually the type to automatically slide open when someone approached it.

Indeed, everything at Infinite Stratos Academy, or ISA, was highly advance, often called state-of-the-art, compared to most modern schools. In fact, the actual technology here could even compete with the military if they were actually used to their full potential.

For arriving late, because even with a map he found navigating the academy to be quite the puzzle, Ichika had to take this desk as it was the only one left available to him. The desks at the back were certainly free, however the teachers would have definitely wanted everyone to sit as close as possible to the front and he didn't need to single himself out even more since he was already the odd man out, which wasn't hard to do being the only male presence at all inside Infinite Stratos Academy.

Though, at the moment, none of his classmates, or perhaps anyone at all, seemed to have realized that he was male.

The academy uniform was a white blazer with two red lines running down from the shoulders to the arm and forming red cuffs at the end, while the overturned collar was black with a red-trim, and at the midsection was a belt with a black buckle. The optional ribbon-tie denoted what grades a student was in; blue for first-years, yellow for second-years, and red for third-years. Underneath was just a dress-shirt of any color but usually white. As for bottom-wear, well, because Infinite Stratos Academy is an all-girls school, barring Ichika himself as the sole exception, the blazers themselves could also serve as short-skirt. Of course, there were girls that didn't quite like the cool breezes the blazer-skirts provided, so some had blazers that functioned as dresses as well. And, on even rarer occasions, there were girls who simply preferred to wear pants instead.

And that was really just the beginning of customizable fashion for the uniforms. It wasn't all that unusual for the female students to find an assortment of ways to wear their uniform differently from the norm.

Thus nobody had bat an eye at Ichika when he had walked around the academy.

He was given a custom male uniform, a regular blazer and white pants; different, but not enough that it was glaringly obvious. So nobody had immediately realize, and probably still have not realized, that he was in fact the famous 'Only Male Who Can Pilot An Infinite Stratos In The World' and had most likely thought that he was just another girl with long black hair.

After being tested to make sure that it was not because the Infinite Stratos was malfunctioning, and that he was one-hundred percent male and not a girl with a really deep voice, the official statement from the Japanese Government saying that they had discovered the first ever male pilot had hit the entire world like a speeding meteor and also made Ichika extremely famous by extension.

If they only knew who he exactly was, anyways.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Ichika Orimura was a very rare and valuable existence to the world due to his unique status. And so, other than the public announcement, Ichika's identity was carefully hidden from the world and known only by other world governments and IS related facilities.

So, as far as anybody thought of the situation, the only-male-pilot-ever was probably expected to be in a secret underground government base receiving private tutoring and getting examined like a rat while he was at.

Who could have ever expected that Ichika Orimura would have been simply been transferred off to an all-girls school?

'Are you serious? Is this some of kind of joke?' were the words that left Ichika's mouth when several men in black suits had suddenly come to his home one-day and gave him a notification letter for his attendance at Infinite Stratos Academy, 'Damn it, I was only kidding when I said I was curse!'

It does indeed sound like the greatest male fantasy there ever was, but Ichika was rational enough to know that placing a boy in an all-girls school to be both possibly stupid and unhealthy to said growing teenage boy.

Looking around at his classmate Ichika could definitely see that all the girls here ranked rather high on the cute or pretty scale, but socializing and chatting with them wouldn't necessarily be the same as with guys.

'I'm missing Dan already,' Ichika sighs in his thoughts. His truly natural red-haired friend was one of the few people he talked to at a daily basis and now he won't even get that chance anymore. 'Heck, I'd settle for Tweedle A and Tweedle B at this point.'

Having friends of both sexes and going to a mixed-school was simply more normal and healthy in Ichika's opinion. It was also less likely for him to get labeled as an pervert and even less likely for him to get caught at peeking whenever he felt like it.

He was a growing teenage boy after all. No one can really blame for having a healthy interest in the opposite sex, right?

[...]

With a few minutes before class would even start, Ichika was sitting at his desk with a bored expression and a knuckle on his face as he briefly inspects his female classmates and soaked in the sight.

It seemed that most of them chose blazer-skirts while a few went with blazer-dresses and they wore either stockings or socks that were also, crazily enough, tailored-made to be a part of the academy uniform. Shoes were varied in design and very unique, but the overall division was between regular school shoes and boots.

A majority of them were on the small size on the breast department. A? B? He wasn't entirely sure how the rankings worked, as he guessed-worked most of it, but he figured that only about seven if his classmates were C-cups or close to it.

There was only a single foreigner in his class, a Westerner by the looks of her blond hair and blue eyes, while the rest of the girls seemed to be of Japanese descent.

Two students wore glasses, coincidentally they also seemed to like the color purple as well since one girl wore a purple headband and the other tied her hair up with two purple ribbons, which matched with their purple-framed glasses.

A girl was sleeping soundly at her desk and the sleeves of her uniform was clearly too big for her.

Hair was pretty diverse: buns, twin-tails, braided, bangs, short, long, blue, brown, black, violet... but was pretty normal otherwise.

However, only a single student really caught Ichika's attention; one that brought a tiny smile to his face.

Sitting on the first window seat, the girl with a nice figure had a small scowl on her face and was staring out the window. She had long dark purple hair, that was almost black tied, into a high pony-tail by a white ribbon and her eyes were a darker shade of blue. She was wearing the blazer-skirt with white thigh-high stockings along with black knee-length boots and her neck ribbon-tie was blue.

This is his childhood friend, Houki Shinonono.

According to the girl herself she was born with that scowl, but Ichika highly doubted that, if anything she was a shy person and that cold expression was really meant to keep other people from approaching her too easily.

The two of them used to practice kendo together but that was before Infinite Stratos' were revealed to the world, anyways.

Tabane Shinonono, Houki's older sister, was the creator of these black-box machines and because of that their family was whisked away by the Japanese Government for their own protection. So Ichika hasn't talked with the young Shinonono for almost ten years now.

Though it seems some things never change. 'Same hairstyle as always, eh, Houki-chan?' Ichika muses to himself; the long pony-tail was a good look on her, 'You'd look cuter if you got rid of the scowl though,' but he did admit to himself that her tiny scowl had its own charm. It seems that the girl was still into kendo as well, as she had won the World Kendo Championship last year, 'I should congratulate her about that later.'

The same couldn't be said of Ichika Orimura though. He was far different than he used to be. A bit more cynical, a bit more sarcastic, a bit more distant, he grew out his hair and had quit training in kendo as well. That kidnapping incident had really changed him. For better or worst, Ichika himself couldn't really tell.

So he didn't find it all that unusual that Houki Shinonono didn't recognize him when he walked into the room. More like, she hadn't turned her head around to look at the class even once since sitting down and kept staring out the window.

Having examined enough of his classmates, Ichika takes a look at the assistant teacher that was standing next to the podium. She was odd looking to say the least, though not in a bad way.

She looked quite young with that childish face of her's. So much so that if she had put on the academy uniform then she could have easily passed as a student, no problem. She was also adorable in a way that the other teenage girl's simply couldn't imitate or compete with.

'Is that what people mean by 'baby face'?' Ichika thinks that the assistant teacher would be a prime example of that description.

The woman had green hair and green eyes and wore glasses that looked too comically large for her, as if they were going to fall off at a moment's notice. She wore a short-sleeved pale yellow dress with black folds along the rims, along with a pink camisole underneath it that made it seem like a bra, and black leathery knee-length boots.

The assistant teacher gave the impression that she was small, even though she was just as tall as her students, and truly did looked more like an over-sized child than anything else. The only aspect of her that would beg to differ though was her sizable chest that easily outranked everybody in this room. Strangely enough, that didn't make the woman any more sexy, in fact it just added to her bubbly charm, only furthering her child-like appearance.

[...]

The main teacher had yet to arrive but because it was time for class to start the assistant teacher reluctantly took charge.

"H-Hello, everybody! I am Yamada Maya, the assistant teacher! Nice to meet you all, l-let's get along with each other over the next year!"

"Yes, Yamada-sensei!" the class chimes in together except for Ichika.

As the same with her looks, she even sounded young. Though, despite that smile on her face, there was a sense of nervousness in her voice and her body was fidgeting a little bit here and there.

It was getting rather difficult for Ichika to believe that she was the oldest person in the room.

"Mm, e-everyone is here, right? O-Okay, then let's start Student Homeroom!"

Walking behind the podium, Maya Yamada taps the screen to bring out the student list.

"Now let's do self-introductions!" the woman suggests.

Starting from the family names with 'A,' the list finally reaches 'O,' as in 'Orimura,' within fifteen minutes or so.

The students before him had rather simple introductions about their names, their hobbies, wanting a boyfriend, their goals at the academy, or if they possessed any special skills. The only student that had so far grabbed the class' attention was the boisterous blond Westerner, Cecilia Alcott, who was apparently the English IS Representative Candidate.

And now it was Ichika's turn.

"Orimura Ichika-san," the assistant teacher chirps happily.

He was going to grab their attention whether he wanted to or not due to his unique situation. 'Let's get this over with...' taking a deep breath before standing up, Ichika turns to face his classmates. He might as well enjoy the shock expression on their pretty little faces. With a smirk gracing his own girly face, Ichika speaks without any hesitation, "Hello, I am Orimura Ichika. Male. Nice to meet you all, I'll be in your care, ladies," and he gives a mocking bow.

Silence for all but a moment.

The students and even the assistant teacher become completely startled. Mouths gaping open and flapping like a fish out of water, eyes wide with surprise, words stuttering or dying out on the tip of their tongues, accusing fingers pointing at him or bodies trembling uncontrollable; there was a diverse number of reactions to his declaration.

It was just as he expected though; he was used to such reaction, though certainly not to a scale as large as this. But as amusing as the scene before him was, that was all just a bonus to him. Ichika was far more interested in having a look at childhood friend's face.

Suppressing a snicker, he spares a glance to look at her but when their eyes met Houki immediately crosses her arms, huffs, and goes back to staring out the window. Her schooling in kendo seems to have given her a powerful poker-face.

'Really? Is it too much to ask for you to look surprise, Houki-chan? Ah, you just had to ruined the grand and touching reunion scene I made for us.' Truthfully, Ichika wasn't all that bothered.

_PANG!_ A sharp pain shoots through the back of Ichika's head.

"Ouch!" the boy yelps. There were few people who could sneak up on Ichika Orimura. Even fewer that could hit with such a familiarly perfect force, angle, and speed. Rubbing the back of his head while never letting that smirk leave his face, Ichika turns around to face his assailant.

Of course it was _her_.

In her hand she held a deadly weapon: a book; ready to pounce on an unsuspecting victim at a moment's notice. Wearing all black clothing that was very forming fitting to her shape, the black female business-suit looked immensely professional on her when combined with that long black hair tied from the back and her sharp brown eyes that were like a predatory wolf. With an aloof expression that could seamlessly shift into a stern look, she created the image of a no-nonsense pro.

"Chifuyu-nee," Ichika says with a smile to his older sister, Chifuyu Orimura, "So this is where you've been all this time, huh? Working at IS Academy?"

The older sister just glares back at him, unamused.

Maya Yamada, not liking the growing tension in the room, quickly interjects, "Ah, um, O-Orimura-sensei, is the meeting over?"

"Ah, Yamada-sensei," Chifuyu softens her expressions and ignores her brother, "It must have been tough for you, being forced to start self-introduction with this bunch."

'Hey, where did that demon of a sister of mine go?' the sudden change in attitude was a new and strange sight to Ichika.

"N-No, it's nothing at all! As the assistant teacher, if I can't even do something simple like that..." the childish-looking woman didn't finish her sentence and was blushing furiously.

Speaking in place, Chifuyu turns to address the class sternly, "Everyone, my name is Chifuyu Orimura, and my duty, for one year, will be to teach all of you about the standard operations and controls of an IS. Everything that you'll learn in this school, you _will_ remember and you _will_ understand. My job is to thoroughly train each and every single one of you until all of you can successfully pilot an IS. Do I make myself clear?"

The woman's speech shook most of the students out of their stupor.

"KYAAA~! It's Chifuyu-sama! It's the real Chifuyu-sama!" "I've always been your fan!" "I came to this school from North Kyuushuu because I admire you, onee-sama!" "Being taught by Chifuyu-sama?! I can die happy now~!"

And many similar squeals of delight came from the teenage girls.

However, the strict teacher looked disheartened.

"...Is this school just full of idiots here looking to attend my classes?"

'Harsh as ever, Chifuyu-nee. You could be kinder to your fans, you know?'

Said fans didn't have a problem with her words or attitude though. In fact, they only got more animate and louder.

"KYAAAH~! ONEE-SAMA, ONEE-SAMA! SCOLD US MORE! PLEASE CONTINUE TO SCOLD US SOME MORE~!" "BUT BE GENTLE TO US FROM TIME TO TIME!" "AND BE ELEGANTLY SOPHISTICATED AFTERWARD~!"

'Ah, what kind of delusions are these girls having? I sorta feel sorry for you now, Chifuyu-nee.' It seems that being too popular has its downsides, Ichika muses to himself, as he was now technically in the same boat with his older sister.

Tiring of the students' antics, Chifuyu faces Ichika, "I see that you're troublesome as always."

"I suppose that is what happens when you're not home often enough to reign me in, Chifuyu-nee."

_PANG!_ The book slaps Ichika's desk, it would have been a direct hit to his head if he hadn't back away at the last second. There was no way he was going to press his luck and try to intercept that attack; it would be like trying to fight a bear with his bare-hands whilst naked in a river during the middle of a snowing winter night.

"You will address me as 'Orimura-sensei' at school."

Ichika chuckles, teasing his sister any more would probably result in him having a taste of her spartan regiment. And he could definitely live without experiencing that ever again.

"Of course, Orimura-sensei," he replies playfully. It earned him a glare but thankfully nothing more.

"Ah~~!" a girl seems to have both yawned and yelped at the same time. It the was girl with the over-sized sleeves who was sleeping through the class all this time, she had only awoken once and that was for the self-introductions. "Ori-kun is the male pilot~~!" It still sounded as though she was yawning and not actually being shocked about it.

'Ori-kun?' Ichika didn't like it, it made him sound like a snack of some sort, "Hey, don't call me that."

But his request fell on deaf's ear as the conversation in the class was already in a different direction.

"Eh? Can it be...?" "Ah, they have the same family name...!" "Orimura-kun must be Chifuyu-sama's younger brother!"

The class explodes again when they finally realize and accept that, yes, Ichika Orimura is male, and, yes, he was also the famous only-male-pilot-in-the-world.

Sighing, Ichika returns to his desk and sits down but at that moment the school bell rings.

"Listen up!" Chifuyu shouts and silences the class, "All of you will refer to me as 'Orimura-sensei.' As for the lesson schedule, I'll have all of you memorize the basics of the IS within the next six months. After that, it'll be basic practicals for half a month. Whether you understand or not, you will always answer me. Understood?"

"YES~! ORIMURA-SENSEI~!" the class cheers.

"That is all then. Student Homeroom is over; dismissed."

* * *

**Author Notes**

I really hope that I have and can capture Yuri Lowell's personality well. I really hope so... That said, I do admit that I haven't done a 100% Percent Completionist run for Tales of Vesperia, so I might be missing stuff, especially from the Skits...

Particularly: One, I've heard that Yuri likes cats. Two, I'm not sure what's his position for items regarding his Item Hater title. Three, if the Ex-Dungeon had any character development or not... And that's just really a few off the top of my head.

Yuri has a love of giving people nicknames (Estellise/Estelle, Karol/Captain, Raven/Old Man, Judith/Judy, etc) and it's a pretty prominent feature of his character. So expect many characters to have bad nicknames because I'm terrible at making some up.

Anyways, what are my plans for this story? I think that's a really big question to answer. At the moment, I'll be more or less following the Light Novel canon (apologies to anybody who dislikes or hates fanfics that follow canon) and I won't really diverge off anywhere unless Ichika Orimura has somehow subtly changed the plot for being Yuri Lowell's soul reincarnate. That, or we reach the point in the story where the canon material ends and original content is needed, but that's a long way off.

As far for now, there's alot of settling in to be done before we even see IS's in action, so slice-of-life here we go!

* * *

[9/26/12] Chapter uploaded.

[9/27/12] More proof-reading, minor editting, minor additional lines.

[11/16/12] More proof-reading and minor editting.


	3. Boy Meets Girls

**Brave Infinite Vesperia**

Flight Three

_Everybody Is A Girl Here Except For Me_

_[Boy Meets Girls]_

* * *

Student Homeroom was over but Ichika still had about five other classes to attend. His class schedule was: Student Homeroom, IS Science, IS Theory, IS Development, IS Political, Physical Education, and then finally Student Homeroom once again.

The first Student Homeroom was about thirty minutes long but the rest of the classes were slightly over an hour with fifteen minute breaks in between. As for meal time, breakfast was served before the first Student Homeroom while lunch was after the third real class, in this case IS Development, and was around forty-five minutes long.

Classes started at 8:30am and ended at 5:00pm, thus a typical school day was about nine-and-a-half-hours long.

This was rather expected though since Infinite Stratos Academy was essentially an extremely prestigious private school with all the students attending for free as their tuition, dormitory, and meals were all paid for by the Japanese Government.

Now, the only good part that Ichika found nice about his classes was that he would take them all in the same classroom, Class 1-1, so there was no need for him to move around. The bad part however was that his class was considered a special one and so their teachers would always be the same individuals; in other words his sister Chifuyu and the bubbly Maya were going to be teaching him all day for the rest of the year.

Right now was Infinite Stratos Science, a class about the features and mechanics of these flying machines that have been proven after years of studies and tests, but luckily it seemed that, despite being the main teacher, Chifuyu was choosing a supporting role whilst let the assistant teacher Maya Yamada do all the talking.

'Though she does need all the practice she can get,' Ichika muses. It was only twenty minutes in and the youthful looking woman had already stuttered over some words, almost tripped herself for trying to face the class, or bit her tongue; sometimes all at once.

Normally speaking, Ichika wasn't the type of person to pay attention in class, it wasn't like he was a bad student, he was actually pretty average, but he just couldn't find himself staying focused for too long. He simply felt that most classes were too boring and unappealing.

However, with Maya Yamada teaching that wasn't really the case here as he was tuning out far less frequently than usual. To his credit, Ichika was definitely interested in learning more about the IS so he was at least trying to pay attention to the lesson at hand.

"Ow!" the green-haired woman accidentally bites her tongue again.

Though it was somewhat difficult with all these minor interruptions.

'Yeah, definitely a ditz.'

[...]

It was now break time and Ichika was sitting on his chair with his knuckle on his cheek.

'News spreads fast around here,' he thinks to himself. It was really the only explanation he had for why there was such a large group of students from all the years clogging up the hallway and staring at him from the open door.

They were whispering things likes:

"Eh, he looks so much like a girl!" "I heard he's Chifuyu-nee-sama's little brother!" "I'd wish he come over and talk to me~" "Can he really pilot an IS?"

'What a drag,' Ichika sighs to himself in his thoughts, 'Do none of them have the courage to come up and talk to me?' He didn't really like the semi-tense atmosphere that all the attention was bringing him. Again, it looked like he needed to make the first move, 'Let's break the ice.'

A confident smirk forms on his lips and he waves at the crowd with his free hand.

"Kyaaa~! He waved at me!" "No, it was at me!" "Keep dreaming, it was obviously for me!"

Ah, well, it seems to have had a different reaction than Ichika had intended.

"...Excuse me," says a somewhat low voice next to the seated boy.

"Hmm...?" Ichika hums, 'Whose this? Do we have a winner?' he turns around and sees his childhood friend Houki Shinonono looking at him with her light scowl and crossed arms.

He had thought about it before, that her scowl made her generally unapproachable, but if Ichika had to say what kind of impression he got from her then he would say something like 'Like a sharp blade, she'll cut you if get too close and if you handle her poorly then she'll slice you in half.'

Even now she still gave out that sort of aura.

"Hey, Houki-chan, it's great to see you again," Ichika beams at her, "Congratulations on winning the World Kendo Championship last year."

He could hear the eavesdropping students wondering and muttering about his relationship with Houki Shinonono. That and they were also talking about his voice.

The pony-tailed girl grows slightly pink in the face, her frown shapes itself more into a triangle like '^', and her body tenses up just a bit.

'That's an interesting reaction,' Ichika examines. There was some embarrassment in it but also something else he couldn't yet figure out.

"Why do you know something like that?" she asks somewhat defensively.

"I saw it on TV of course," he answers. Truthfully, he only caught part of the program on TV and had to look up the rest on the internet.

She blinks, "I see... is that so? Mmh..." and relaxes a little.

"Well, enough of that," Ichika brushes it aside, "Ten years, huh? How have you been, Houki-chan?"

His question sours her mood a bit, "...I've been fine."

'Gotta ask what's wrong later,' Ichika notes to himself, "If you say so."

An awkward tension builds between the two childhood friends but they're luckily saved by the ringing of the bell.

_~Ding~Dong~Ding~Dong~_ It sounds.

"Ahem," Houki clears her throat, "If you'll excuse me," she lightly bows and returns to her desk.

"Yeah, sure," the boy says with a smirk and a wave, "Talk to you later."

And then IS Theory begins shortly after.

[...]

Infinite Stratos Theory, this class was all about the theoretical of the Infinite Stratos', as in the 'why' and the 'maybe.' As, to this day, nobody except the the creator of the Infinite Stratos, Tabane Shinonono, is said to be able to understand the mystery that is the core of these machines.

One such mystery being why only females can pilot an Infinite Stratos. And another being why Ichika Orimura can pilot one as well.

Though such mysteries were better left off for the third-years or government researchers to figure out.

"...The First Shift is what occurs when a personalized IS has configured its setting to better match their pilot. The Second Shift is largely the same, further specializing its specifications. However, there are theories of a Third Shift that..."

Maya Yamada was speaking far more eloquently now, suffering fewer bouts from her klutziness. Perhaps she was getting used to talking in front a crowd.

Still, for the most part, Ichika wasn't paying absolute attention the lecture. He was interested in hearing about the Shifts but that part of the lesson was quickly glazed over.

Looking around he saw that all his classmates, except the long-sleeved girl who was nodding off every so often, were listening dutifully to the assistant teacher; it was much the same in IS Science.

'What a huge difference from all that Chifuyu fangirlism earlier,' Ichika wryly muses, 'This is a school for the elites after all...'

Indeed, the IS and their pilots were intricately linked to a nation's security and strength, so by extension any academy that specialized in training pilots also existed to groom the elites; the nation's future soldiers and commanders.

Furthermore, power wasn't everything as intelligence was required as well. The entrance exams into any one of these academic facilities are roughly three times tougher than for regular schools. And with IS Academy being the best of the best that meant every student attending here was essentially the cream of the crop.

The sole exception being Ichika Orimura of course.

It is an unfortunate fact, but the male pilot would have without a doubt failed the written entrance exam. It simply wasn't possible for him to make up for the years head-start the other students had, as realistically speaking boys didn't have any reason to study for an academy they could never join. The closest a man could get to attending an IS-oriented school was to find a college or university that had those classes available.

Ichika lightly sighs, 'I'm really out of place here.'

"I-Is something the matter, Orimura-kun?" It seems that Maya Yamada had noticed the boy's action. "I-If you have any questions then please ask me. I-I'm a teacher after all!" she puffs out her large chest confidently.

"Hm... No, it's nothing. Carry on, Yamada-sensei."

"O-Oh... Okay, Orimura-kun..." she answers weakly, she looked half relieved and half bothered, and then continues with the class.

'Need to review all of this later,' Ichika adds another mental note to himself, 'At least enough so that I don't get chewed out by Chifuyu-nee...'

[...]

"Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time?"

'Oh, it's the Westerner,' Ichika hums to himself, 'What was her name again... Ah, that's right, Cecilia Alcott.'

Right now it was the break period between IS Theory and IS Development and it seemed that the English IS Representative Candidate had something to say to Ichika Orimura.

Long blond hair with a few of the strands ending up in ringlet curls. She had blue eyes and wore a blue white-frilled headband while her uniform was a blazer-dress, the blue ribbon-tie, and black stockings with brown shoes.

Her voice was a bit high-pitch and her Japanese was apparently pretty good from the few times Ichika heard her speak. She radiated an aura of superiority that was rather common amongst women of this day and age.

Truly, because this was a female dominated society, it was not an unusual sight to see girls, especially non-pilots, get very condescending against the opposite sex even in public areas simply due to the fact that they _might_ be able to pilot an Infinite Stratos. It was a strong sense of pampered entitlement, one could say.

But what made this girl worst, in Ichika's opinion, was the fact that she was from a high-class family. It's not like he hated them or anything, but people from high-class families tend to be snooty and snobs in his honest opinion.

To say the least, the holier-than-thou attitude was something that would always easily rub Ichika Orimura the wrong way.

"Can I help you?" Ichika asks, hiding most of the disdain in his voice.

His underlying tone didn't seem to go well with the girl though.

Her voice raises in indignant volume, "Hey, don't use that tone of voice with me! What's with that disrespectful way of speaking to me? You should feel honor that I'm even talking to you, simpleton!"

Ichika merely repeats his question, "Can I help you?"

The girl's brow twitches, "H-How insolent of you..." she clears her throat and points a finger at Ichika, the tip almost touching his nose, "You should feel blessed to be in the same class as me! I'm an elite of the elites! The IS Representative Candidate for England! Cecilia Alcott!"

"Is that so? How fortunate of me," he says dully.

Cecilia lightly fumes, "Are you making fun of me?"

'Not really, no.' Which was indeed the truth; Ichika was playing along with her for whatever it is that she wanted, he just ended up being sarcastic along the way. "Is that how I sound?"

"Hmph!" the girl crosses her arms and huffs, "So do you understand your place now, simpleton?"

'How much full of herself can this girl get?' Ichika blanches in his mind. And the blond clasmmate takes his silence as compliance.

"Because I'm an elite, I can afford to show some kindness to people like you."

"Is that why you called out to me in the first place?" Ichika asks, 'Get to the point already.'

"Hm, yes, that's right... If you beg, I may be inclined to teach you a few things about IS," she chuckles, "After all, I'm an elite amongst elites! The only one who defeated their instructor during the entrance exams!"

'The entrance exam, huh?' Ichika muses. That day would be a day that he would never forget; the day he had first piloted an Infinite Stratos.

After casually shocking the instructor, a whole team of Infinite Stratos experts were called in. After some minor preliminary tests it was confirmed that Ichika Orimura was indeed a male pilot and the machine was definitely 'reacting' to him.

One of the many tests involved seeing how well the boy could control the machine.

The then still shell-shocked instructor wanted to take out her stress on Ichika for one reason or another, so the two were chosen to engage in a one-on-one duel. Both pilots were using the Second Generation IS 'Uchigane,' a basic and staple model favored by the Japanese for its traditional samurai look and katana weapon, so the only real difference between the two users came down to their experiences and skills.

And Ichika Orimura completely blew expectations out of the water.

The battle had both fighters facing each other in a closed arena, the size of a professional basketball court, at opposite ends. As soon as the testing-duel began, the instructor had dashed forward to impale the boy on her katana. But there were very few things that could scare Ichika Orimura and a sharp incoming blade was not one of them.

Ichika had side-stepped the lunge at the last second and then sent out his right fist to punch the 'waist' of the armor-machine and quickly followed up with an overhead strike using the sword in his left, slamming the instructor onto the ground in a blurred motion. Before his opponent could get back up, he delivered a relentless attack and dropped the woman's shield to zero within seconds.

'Better keep that to myself,' Ichika thinks, 'Don't want her nagging me to death about it.' He could easily imagine how shrill and indignant the blond pilot would get if he mentioned that little tid-bit.

"As expected of the IS Representative Candidate for England," he humors her, "But no thanks, I think I'll have to kindly refuse that offer, Alcottt-san."

"Huh? W-What? Why?!" she is startled by his answer.

"No need to trouble yourself over me, Miss English IS Representative Candidate," Ichika says in a sweet but still back-handed manner, "I'm sure you're awfully busy but I think I'll be fine on my own."

Cecilia Alcott frowns in a noble style. Clearly not pleased with his answer nor the intent beneath it.

_~Ding~Dong~Ding~Dong~_ The bell rings for IS Development.

"Hmph," the blond girl huffs, "Fine then. Know that I gave you a chance to learn from the best, simpleton," and walks back to her desk.

"I'll keep that in mind, Alcott-san," the boy lazily waves away, 'Well now, I think I know who I want to associate with least of all for the rest of this school year.'

[...]

Unfortunately for Ichika Orimura his older sister stepped up to teach the class during IS Development. So now he had to pay attention in class or suffer her wrath.

"Listen up, for today we will be learning about the various types of equipments used in real combat and their characteristics," Chifuyu says in a strict tone.

The intensity in the room was almost palpable. Unlike when Maya Yamada was teaching, the students were now paying very close attention to the lesson at hand, almost treating the First Brynhildr's word as laws. In fact, the green-haired assistant teacher had taken out a digital notebook to type down furiously whatever the black-haired woman was saying.

"But before that we will need to elect a Class Representative, who shall also take part in the coming Inter-Class Tournament," and proceeds to explain, "The Class Representative is exactly as the name says: Representative of Class 1-1. They will not only compete in various tournaments but will also be required to attend Student Council Meetings and Committee Meetings as well. Functionally, they will be more like a leader.

The Inter-Class Tournament will begin in one month from now on May 14. Class Representative of the same grades will fight amongst each other in one-on-one duels and will be graded on their overall performance. The better the assessment, the more extra credit the class receives as a whole.

For Class Representative, you can nominate yourself or someone else, either is fine. That will be all."

The class grows lively and buzzes with talking.

Ichika Orimura is somewhat conflicted, 'I want to compete,' he thinks but he also knows that he's unsuited for the other administrative duties expected of a Class Representative. 'No, now is not the time to chicken out,' he instantly decides, 'No time for regrets.'

A fierce grin crawls up his face as he raises his hand up, "I nominate myself for Class Representative," and the class cheers loudly at his declaration.

"You can do it, Orimura-kun!" "You're the best!" "Hurray for Orimura-kun!"

Chifuyu gives a small smirk that only her little brother notices, "Then Orimura Ichika is a candidate. Is there anybody else?"

A shrill voice cuts into the praising and the sound of a desk being slammed is heard.

"Now wait just a minute here, I cannot accept this!" argues Cecilia Alcott as she stands up angry with a hand on her hip, "Having a man who barely knows how to pilot an IS as our Class Representative is completely disgraceful! I will not endure such an embarrassment for a whole year!"

Ichika's brow twitches, 'Damn, I forgot about her.' It was totally clear to him that such a haughty and proud person like her wouldn't have taken this lying down.

"In terms of ability and academia then I am obviously the best choice! It'll be troubling to choose a far-east monkey just because he's some rare breed. I came to this academy to polish up my skills; I have no interest in joining a farce of a circus!"

His other brow twitches; that was the last nerve. Ichika has had enough of her 'noble' attitude.

The teenage boy draws attention to himself as he stands up from his seat and turns to look at the blond foreigner.

"Hey," he growls, "Stop acting so high and mighty. It's annoying."

The class becomes silent and the English IS Representative Candidate blinks her eyes as her mind tries to process what was happening before her.

"W-What did you say to me?" she stutters out.

"I said: You're annoying."

Cecilia becomes red in anger.

"You ungrateful cur! You dare insult me?!" she jabs a finger at him.

"I think it's about time that someone taught you some manners, Alcott-san," Ichika says without backing down.

"Hold your tongue, you oaf! Speak anymore and I will show you your place!"

Ichika smirks, "That's fine by me. Let's settle this with an IS duel." One could almost hear the class gasp at this.

"You loud mouth boar," the blond girl almost snarls, "I accept! For talking so big, I'll make you my servant when I defeat you. No, make that my slave!"

'The nerve of this girl. She just gets cruder and cruder,' the boy grunts in his head, "Is that so? Fine, then if I win then you'll have to become my servant," though doubts enters his mind, 'Whoops, got caught up in the moment. Maybe I should have asked for something else?'

Her face scrunches into a raging mess, "Y-You perverted monkey! You have the audacity to ask such a thing from me? From Cecilia Alcott?!" she practically screeches.

Ichika scoffs, "You can back away if you want. I'm just making sure we both get fair conditions."

"I will make you suffer dearly for underestimating me, you mongrel," the girl says with contempt.

"Same here, Alcott-san."

"I'll show a mutt like you why I was chosen as the IS Representative Candidate of England!"

The long black-haired boy grins cockily, "Looking forward to it."

Chifuyu Orimura claps her hand twice and draws the attention of the room towards her. If someone was looking at her earlier then they would have seen the slightly happy smirk that was on her face whilst she watched her little brother argue with the English candidate.

"Alright then, is there anybody else nominating themselves or someone else for Class Representative? Nobody? Good," the woman turns to face the nominated pair, "Orimura, Alcott, it seems you two have reached an agreement," she receives a nod from the both of them, "Very well then, I approve of the duel. The battle will take place next Monday in the Third Arena at the start of Student Homeroom; make sure you're both well prepared for it.

Now then, pay attention, class is back in session."

The students settle down while Ichika and Cecilia return to their seats.

'Well then,' Ichika Orimura muses to himself, 'looks like I need to get some practice in.'

* * *

**Author Notes**

Hello again, everybody! Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following!

I typically don't respond to comments in my Author Notes, so if anybody has questions, or something, feel free to send a Private Message and I'll try to answer as best as I can.

As for suggestions, I definitely want to say that I do appreciate reading them, but we'll have to take a 'wait and see' approach if we want to know whether they ever get incorporated into the story.

However, I do want to address the concern about Yuri-Ichika's, henceforth dub Yurika in the Author Notes, open-shirt/jacket by Professor Stein. I definitely do agree that Yurika would wear his clothes like that because it would strongly fit with the casual personality he generally has. Unfortunately, I can't find any reasons why he would dress like that in public (mostly because standards are abit different in the IS Universe than it is in the ToV Universe), especially when Chifuyu is his sister (probably would beat him for trying). Though I do believe he can get away with it in the privacy of his own home, but whether we see those kind of scenes... I don't know yet.

Continuing on, let's flesh out the IS Universe! What kind of classes do they teach? I don't know, let's make some up.

Student Homeroom; reviewing stuff and hands-on training? Physical Education; fortifying the human body? IS Theory; about the black-box core and future possibilities? IS Shop; hands-on repair-work? IS Development; talk about weapons, upgrades, research, and models? IS Political; laws, policies, and rights about the machines and their pilots? IS History; history of IS creation and famous events? IS Business; careers and job opportunities? IS Science; known proven facts about the machines? IS Combat; how to fight with an IS?

And that's really all I can think of.

Yurika's reply to Cecilia's offer was one of the hardest things to come up with up. Honestly, it was a giant wall. I'm not sure if the line delivered enough oomph.

Also, it was entirely possible for Yurika to confront Cecilia with the cooking thing; Yuri Lowell after all was one of the best chefs in ToV after all.

Maybe I should go back to the previous chapters an italicize the thoughts...

* * *

[10/2/12] Chapter uploaded.

[10/3/12] More proof-reading, minor editing, minor additional lines.

[11/16/12] More proof-reading and minor editing.


	4. Houki Shinonono

**Brave Infinite Vesperia**

Flight Four

_The Kendo Girl Is My Childhood Friend_

_[Houki Shinonono]_

* * *

The rest of the classes pass by boringly for Ichika Orimura. As always, during break and lunch, nobody dared to approach him and only watched him from afar.

It was now after school, 5pm, right at the end of the second Student Homeroom when the assistant teacher called out to him. By now most of his classmates were already out for dinner or heading to their school-clubs and only a few were still hanging around inside the classroom and chatting.

"A-Ah, Orimura-kun, I have something to talk to you about," Maya Yamada says. She was holding her notebook close to her chest.

"Hm? What's the matter, Sensei?" the boy asks.

"W-Well, your dorm-room is ready."

"Ah," Ichika utters.

She hands him a key-card, "Here you go, Orimura-kun," on the side it reads '1025,' "Your Student ID may also be used instead, b-but please try not to lose this room key."

"That was fast," he says as he slips the key-card into this pants pocket, "I heard that it was suppose to be around a week before I got an assigned room."

"T-That was previously the case," the young women fidgets, "but special circumstances require special solutions."

'What do you mean by 'special solution'?'

"A-Anyway, your own room won't be prepared until a month from now. So until then, please endure, and get along with your roommate, Orimura-kun," she says with a somewhat pink face.

Ichika was silent for a moment, "...Roommate?" he quirks a brow, "But isn't IS Academy...?"

A chilling tension permeates in the room by the teen's hanging question and the silence is broken by a shrill cry.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Orimura-kun is rooming with a girl!"

The boy puts a hand to his forehead and sighs, 'Me and my big mouth.'

Several of the girls run out of the classroom to spread the big news; a couple stayed behind to interrogate Maya Yamada who cracked under the pressure and runs away in tears.

Ichika gets up from his chair and sighs again.

"Going home to pack your things, Orimura?" the boy's older sister walks in. She was apparently handling something during the second Student Homeroom and so wasn't around during that period. "There's no need for that, I've already arranged for everything and they should already be in your room. Be grateful for that."

"Is that what you were doing earlier?" he asks.

She ignores his question, "However, it's just some of the daily necessities, such as change of clothes and a cellphone charger," she quickly adds on, "And all of your cooking and kitchen utensils."

The boy smirks, "Oh? Were you planning to stop by and have me cook you dinner, Chifuyu-nee? Maybe breakfast and lunch from now on too?"

The woman narrows her eyes but doesn't answer, "Each room has their own shower, so you are to refrain from using the large public bath, understood?"

"Yeah."

"Good, now use this time to get yourself accommodated with your new living arrangements, Orimura," the teacher continues, "Now then, I have another meeting to attend, so you're dismissed. After dinner head straight to your room and don't wander aimlessly around," she says before leaving.

'Making me dorm with a girl... What is that demon of a sister thinking?'

[...]

Ichika Orimura stood before the door of room 1025 in the first year dormitory. On the door itself were the plain black numbers '1025' on a polished silver plate. To his left or right he could not find a name-card revealing who his roommate was. The only thing around was the scanner that hung on the wall to the left of the door.

Of course, he was not alone in the corridor either. There were several girls, some that he recognized as his classmates, gathered around to see who was the lucky girl that Ichika was rooming with.

He knocks on the door three times with even intervals, "Hello, anybody there?" but doesn't receive a reply, 'Are they still eating dinner?'

Not the type to wait around, Ichika places his key-card on the scanner.

_Beep._ The machine rings, the small status light changing from yellow to green and a 'click' is heard from the now unlocked door.

Ichika swiftly turns the knob, walks inside, and closes the door behind him. He immediately finds himself in a small hallway that leads to a bigger room further up ahead, while to his right was surprisingly a small kitchen station and to the left was another door.

He knocks on the door to his left, "Hello, anybody here?" he asks. The boy definitely hears something, like running water, coming from the other room, 'Are they showering?' he could have sworn he heard a voice squeak in there.

A few moments later the sound of the water stops and footsteps could be heard. "W-Whose there?" a somewhat deep but still feminine voice meekly calls out.

'Sounds familiar,' the boy notes, "Ah, I'm your new roommate. Orimura Ichika. Male."

"I-I-Ichika?!"

"Hm? ...Houki-chan, is that you?" the boy asks questionably, 'She is a childhood friend but that isn't a good enough reason to make us dorm with each other, Chifuyu-nee,' he quips in his mind.

An awkward silence settles in from the lack of an answer.

'I'll take that as a yes,' he thinks, "Hey, I'll wait in the other room while you get changed, okay?"

He only takes a single step before Houki calls out to him, "W-Wait, please go and wait outside, Ichika...!"

"Huh, why?"

"...My clothes, t-they're in my bag in the room..."

"Oh," he utters and turns around to exit the room, 'Why didn't you bring clothes with you?' he almost wanted to complain.

Outside in the corridor the crowd of spectating girls grew even larger than before. 'Though I guess I should thank you for giving me a great view here, Houki-chan,' Ichika muses to himself.

All the girls seemed to have already switched to their sleepwear or thinner clothing. Nightgowns, over-sized shirts, full-body pajamas, tank tops and short shorts, bra and panties; every color, every transparency, every tightness, silky, lacy, frilly, etc. All of those were before his eyes and the girls were absolutely aware of that but were still willing to give him a look.

Ichika was no newbie at looking at under-dressed woman. He was spoiled by seeing his sister walk around the house half-naked plenty of times and even handled her laundry, so he had no problems keeping a straight face at the wondrous sight before him.

"So Orimura-kun's room is 1025, huh?" "I wish I was his roommate." "Look, look at me, Orimura-kun!" "Eh, he doesn't look embarrassed or interested at all." "Can it be... is Orimura-san into guys?!"

The teenage boy had to endure ten minutes hearing gossip like that until the door finally opened again.

_Click._ The door sounds, "...Come in." Houki Shinonono commands with a glare and a scowl.

[...]

Two beds sat next to cabinets and drawers near the left wall while a large two-person desk with a full computer work-station was set-up to the right wall. A small balcony with glass screens was up ahead and the wall leading into the hallway had a giant flat screen television attached to it. Yet the room was still large and wide enough for several people to easily move inside.

Luxurious; truly a room that wouldn't look out of place in an expensive five-star hotel.

Houki Shinonono sat on the floor in seiza position wearing a light kendo outfit, a wooden sword lying to her right. Her face was stern but also a bit red. Ichika Orimura sat opposite of her, also in seiza, but only as a formality. His expression was decidedly stoic. And the two of them were situated on the floor in the middle of the beds and desk.

The kendo girl glares at her childhood friend, not with anger but with suspicion, "So you're my roommate, Ichika?"

"Yeah, that seems to be case."

"You... What's your purpose?"

Ichika raises a questioning brow.

Her glare falters momentarily, "I mean, what are you planning, Ichika? Boys and girls can't share the same bed after they turn seven; it's common sense!"

"I'm not planning anything, Houki-chan. And we're not going to be sharing the same bed," he answers, 'Rather, what era is that common sense from? We can't even apply that reasoning here.'

"T-Then why are you here?" she asks defensively.

"I guess Chifuyu-nee pulled some strings for us to share a room," he shrugs, "She was probably thinking that it would be fine because we've known each other since we were kids."

The pony-tailed girl grumbles with a slight frown, "Ah, that sounds like something Chifuyu-nee would do, always doing as she pleases..." Of course, Houki Shinonono would never dare to complain like that if front of the person herself. She glances at her childhood friend, "Ten years, huh? You look really different now, Ichika," her next line was delivered softly, "Though you're still is as care-free as ever."

The boy chuckles, "And you look the same, Houki-chan," he pulls his hair up in a pony-tail, "By the way, it looks good on you," and then lets it down.

"R-Really?" she perks up.

"Yeah, really. I'm sure you'd get even more compliments if you scowled a little less too," his words prompts the light scowl to return to her face, "See?"

She reprimands him, "I can't help it. I was born like this."

He merely smiles back.

"Anyways... Ichika, did you quit kendo?"

"Hm? What makes you say that?"

"Because I haven't heard a single news about you in the kendo network at all. If it's you, then you could have definitely made it to the World Championship," the black-haired girl states matter of factly.

"I think you're giving me too much credit, Houki-chan," he waves off, "I was pretty average at kendo. The style doesn't suit me," he pauses, "And yeah, I quit awhile back; about six years ago."

"Six years ago? Isn't that...?" the girl mumbles to herself before realizing what that date was, "Ah, I'm sorry, Ichika," she bows solemnly.

"Nah, it's fine. Don't worry about it," the boy thinks about their first chat during break, 'Should I ask now? No, too soon, we've only just met again. Maybe after the duel, when we've connected a bit more...'

Houki changes the subject, "I see... but really, making a boy and girl sleep in the same room, h-how indecent! We need to set up some ground rules here, Ichika!"

"Alright," he agrees, "Do you have anything in mind, Houki-chan?"

"Of course I do!" she answers proudly, "First is the bathing schedule. Mines will be from eight to nine and yours will be from nine to ten."

"That's pretty late."

"It can't be helped. I have club activities from five-thirty to seven-thirty."

"Kendo club, right?" Ichika easily guesses, "Don't they have their own shower rooms?"

"I-I don't feel easy unless it's my own room!" she says with a defensive huff.

'That's interesting to know. Better save that tidbit for later,' he files that fact in his mind, "Gotcha. Anything else?"

"The changing arrangements in the morning. I wake up at six-thirty, and you?"

"Around five-thirty or six."

"W-Wow, that's really early, Ichika."

"I may have stopped doing kendo but I still train my body. That and I also need to the extra time to cook a good breakfast."

"You cook?"

"Yep. How about tomorrow morning I'll whip you up something great?" Ichika smiles brightly.

"Mmh," she nods, "Anyways, make you sure you get dressed before six-thirty, I have my own morning meditations to do as well."

'Ah, that's right, she's a Shrine Maiden,' he vaguely recalls, "Okay, anything else, Houki-chan?"

"No, I think that's about everything."

Ichika looks up at the clock, the time was nearing eight, "Hm? You took a shower awfully early," he comments.

"Today was the first day of school, so clubs were activities were cut short."

"Hm~" Ichika hums before standing up, "Well, I guess I should take my shower then," and moves on to grab a new set of clothes.

"A-Alright," Houki says with a red face, and mumbles, "Geez, dorming with a boy... even if it's Ichika, that's..."

The girly looking boy mentally chuckles to himself, 'Well, I'm fine since I used to live alone with Chifuyu-nee, but I guess Houki-chan is going to need some more time before she gets use to me.'

After picking up his clothes, there was one thing Ichika wanted to say to the troubled girl, "Don't peek," he teasingly intones.

Houki Shinonono's shock face was priceless.

"T-T-That's my line!" she shouts and throws her wooden sword at him.

Ichika snickers out loud and narrowly avoids the weapon by turning the corner and gets the last words in.

"But I won't hold it against you if you do!"

[...]

"Mmh, this is delicious, better than the cafeteria food," Houki says after a sampling the traditional Japanese breakfast.

Ichika grins, "Yeah, the cafeteria is pretty high-class but it's got nothing on me," the teen says proudly.

The two childhood friends were eating at their desks. There was unfortunately no real dinner table for the two to sit together at.

'Maybe I should ask sis and see if she can bring one in.'

"Where did you learn to cook this good?"

"Ah, just a lot of self-taught practicing since I use to live alone," he says, 'And because I won't let Chifuyu-nee cook ever again...'

It's not that Chifuyu Orimura was a terrible cook, it was simply the fact that the woman did not learn how to cook for leisure or entertainment. Her meals were militaristic in nature, plain gruel that wasn't necessarily bad nor good, unhealthy or healthy, meant to save time and money and only to fill up the stomach. Granted, that didn't meant that Chifuyu Orimura liked her cooking, she did not, but she never bothered to expand her skills in that field.

"Live alone? But what about Chifuyu-nee?"

"After the Second Mondo Grosso she became really busy and only returned home every few months. Yesterday was my first time seeing her in about three months now."

"O-Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about, Houki-chan," Ichika pauses, "Actually, there's something I needed to ask you."

"Hm? What is it?"

"I've only got about a week before the duel with Alcott-san, so I want to get as much practice in with an IS as possible, but I heard that you need to get some documents signed first. Know where I can get it, Houki-chan?"

"Mmh... Well, I think you have a problem with scheduling, Ichika."

"Huh, what's that?"

She mulls over chewing her food before answering, "This is just what I heard, but the paperwork is said to be so huge that it would take a full rest day to fill it all out and have it processed too."

Ichika sighs, frowns, and shakes his head, "Why does asking permission have to be so difficult?" he scratches the back of his head, "I guess it's back to square one."

"However, the abilities of an IS comes from the skill of their pilot," Houki states calmly, "If you cannot train with an IS, then train with your body that will be controlling the IS."

"Yeah, that's something," Ichika grins, "Say, how about it then, Houki-chan? A spar between me and you?"

"S-Spar?"

"Yeah, a spar. I've been practicing some moves in my free time but I've never got the chance to test them out against a real fighter."

"...You won't be using kendo, Ichika?" the girl almost glares at him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to hurt your pride there, Houki-chan. But, I told you last night, kendo doesn't suit me."

"T-That's not true," she mumbles to herself.

"So, will you help me?"

"...Alright," she nods, "After school, we'll spar at the kendo clubroom. But I won't be going easy on you, Ichika," she declares firmly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Miss World Kendo Championship Winner."

The two childhood friends smile at each other and then happily finish their breakfast before heading off to class.

[...]

It is currently IS Science with Maya Yamada presenting the lesson.

"In other words, the IS was originally created for space work, so the pilot is covered in a special armor called the Vitality Armor Suit or VAS. Also, the armor has the ability to increase body functions and keep the pilots in a stable state. This increases the heart rate, pulse, lung capacity, amount of sweat lost, endorphins..."

The assistant teacher stops when she sees a raised hand, "Yes?"

"Sensei, is that really alright? It's kind of scary when the body is manipulated like that," one of the girls ask with an uncertain expression.

Maya hums, "There's really no problem with the VAS. Oh yeah, for example, everyone is wearing a bra, right? If a girl has that support then there's no reason that it will cause any adverse effects on the body. Of course, if it's not by your own measurement but out of shape, then..."

It is at this moment that Maya Yamada's and Ichika Orimura's eye meet and the assistant teacher continues her explanation for a moment until her brain realizes several seconds later that Ichika Orimura is a male student. She stops and blushes furiously.

"A-Ah, w-well, no, that's... Ori-Orimura-kun, you don't need to know t-that... I-I don't know. This example... Ah, ah ha, hahaha...!" the green-haired woman waves her hands defensively in front of her.

Without even looking, Ichika Orimura could already tell that some of the girls had already protectively crossed their arms over their chest.

It's true that he was a healthy teenage boy and he definitely didn't mind thinking of or seeing breasts, but such an action was unwarranted. 'Please don't treat me like I'm some dangerous pervert, girls,' he sighs mentally, 'The curse of being the only guy in an all girl's school...'

The cold atmosphere continues for another ten seconds.

"Ahem, Yamada-sensei, continue with the lesson," Chifuyu orders.

"O-Oh, r-right!"

The assistant teacher taps the blackboard screen several times and the image of the Vitality Armor Suit shrinks and disappears, only to be replaced by two data-images of an Infinite Stratos, specifically the Uchigane model.

"T-Then, well, t-this is important so pay attention class!" the still flustered woman tries to state sternly, "T-The IS has something similar to a human's consciousness that can converse with the pilot. In other words, u-understanding each other by living together. So the longer the operation time, the more the IS understands their pilot's c-characteristics."

Immediately a girl raises her hand, "Sensei, is it like a lover~?"

"E-Eh?!" Maya shrinks, "W-Well, that, um...i-it should be that kind of feeling, I guess...?" and mumbles even lower, "I-I haven't had a l-l-lover before, so I don't know..."

Ignoring the bumbling assistant teacher, the girls start chattering about things related to dating.

'I think I hear my name being thrown around,' Ichika wryly notes to himself.

_~Ding~Dong~Ding~Dong~_ And the class ends.

Once Maya Yamada and Chifuyu Orimura leave the classroom, half of the girls swarm around Ichika's desk.

"Hey, Orimura-kun~!" "Over here~, over here~, a question~, a question~" "Ori-kun~" "Do you have time during the day? After school? At night?" "Please listen to me."

Even amongst the crowd, he could spot a person trying to sell tickets.

'Hey, what am I? An exhibit?'

"How's Chifuyu-nee-sama in her own home?!"

'I'm afraid she would kill me if I ever reveal that,' he quips in his thought.

"Orimura," calls out Chifuyu, her voice and presence causes the students to scatter.

'Ah, speak of the devil,' he muses, "Anything wrong, Orimura-sensei?"

"Nothing urgent," she says with a hand on her hip, "I am here to inform you that your PUIS will need some more time to be prepared. Likewise, the school will also need more time before your VAS is ready."

'PUIS, VAS...' Ichika hums, 'Personal Unit Infinite Stratos and Vitality Armor Suit... huh, wait a second...?!'

"I'm getting my own IS?!" Ichika raises his voice in expectation.

The class buzzes with excitement.

"A-A PUIS? For a first year?!" "Which means the government has given Orimura-kun its support...!" "Ori-kun is amazing~" "Ah~ I want my own PUIS soon too~!"

PUIS; Personal Unit Infinite Stratos, this is a general term to refer to unique custom Infinite Stratos that have a pilot-owner. There are other terms such as Representative Cadet Infinite Stratos (RCIS), National Representative Infinite Stratos (NRIS), Tactical Military Operation Grade Infinite Stratos (TMOGIS), and Mass Production Earth Bound Model (MPEBM).

To clarify, there are only 764 Infinite Stratos Cores in the entire world, all created by Professor Tabane Shinonono. Because of the cores complete black-box nature no one has been able to duplicate them beyond degraded copies and Professor Shinonono has discontinued creating any more Infinite Stratos Cores.

Because of that, most cores are used as research materials while only government sanctioned and sponsored people are allowed to own a PUIS and these people are typically either a Representative Candidate or a National Representative. Additionally, the military of a nation's government may also own one or two other Infinite Stratos, the TMOGIS, for defensive purposes.

In essence, a RCIS and NRIS represents a nation's pride while a TMOGIS represents a nation's strength. Though in most cases a nation's RCIS/NRIS and TMOGIS will be one and the same.

On the other end of the spectrum were the Mass Production Earth Bound Model. Unlike the Infinite Stratos whose cores are enigmatic, the Earth Bound Cores are far more inferior and are the degraded imitations of an Infinite Sratos Core, lacking on all accounts.

Further information about the dealing of cores and these machines are covered under the Alaska Treaty.

"That's right," Chifuyu answers, "This is a special privilege, Orimura, to receive a PUIS without a government sponsor, but be aware that this is a test-prototype."

"No, that's fine," Ichika grins, "That's already more than enough for me. Thanks, Chifuyu-nee."

_PANG!_ She hits him on the head with a book, "I told you to address me as 'Orimura-sensei' at school."

"Sorry, I guess I got too excited," he chuckles, 'My very own IS... this will be interesting.'

[...]

At the next break, Cecilia Alcott is standing proud in front of Ichika's desk.

"Now I can be ease~! No need to use those trashy simulators!"

Simulators are virtual reality cockpits that placed the user's mind and senses into a pre-generated world. Unfortunately, only the senses of sight, sound, and touch were replicated and the quality of experience was extremely low. Such a thing only provided immense discomfort, and even sickness, due to the dissonance bteween virtual and reality, so simulators were rarely used even for mock exams.

'Well, I can agree with that,' Ichika muses in thought but humors her in words, "Oh? Why's that, Alcott-san?"

"Because now I can defeat you personally, you oaf!"

The boy cheekily grins, "Ah, that's right, it wouldn't be any fun if I had to fight you behind a screen."

"Hmph," she huffs, "Laugh now, simpleton, but I won't be holding back."

"I'd be offended if you did, Alcott-san."

"It seems you don't understand your position, monkey," she brushes back her blond hair, "There are only 764 IS cores in the entire world. In other words, those who have their own PUIS are the elites among the elites chosen from the six billion people around the world. And I, Cecilia Alcott, am one of those noble elites, as I am the IS Representative Candidate of England. There's no way that I'll lose to a newcomer like you!"

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

Cecilia narrows her eyes, "Keep dreaming, you fool! Anyways, you better not run away, simpleton."

"Don't worry, Alcott-san, I'm looking forward to our duel," Ichika smirks.

The English Representative Candidate returns with a smirk of her own and then walks back to her desk.

[...]

Ichika Orimura and Houki Shinonono were having a peaceful lunch in the first-year cafeteria. Their meals were the Meal Set of the Day: salted mackerel.

At one point a third-year student got physically close to Ichika, offering her services for IS training. The third-year girl wasn't easily scared away by Houki's nasty scowl but had retreated after the kendo girl used her family name 'Shinonono.'

Indeed, Houki Shinonono was Tabane Shinonono's younger sister, though it seems that the two siblings did not get along very well. Any talk about Tabane Shinonono around the kendo girl was strictly off limits.

'When did Houki-chan start hating Shino-nee?' the teenage boy wonders.

[...]

A crowd of girls gather over the kendo clubroom.

Two childhood friends are armored in the kendo gear.

One stands in the traditional stance with the two hands gripping the blunt bamboo sword, a shinai, in front of her wearing the masked helmet and plate chest armor. Emotions are cut off, leaving behind only the cold steel nerves as she analyzes the worthy opponent before her.

The other stands with a neutral stance, the weapon in his left hand leaning casually on his shoulder. His helmet-less face sports an affirmative grin and his long hair is tied in a pony-tail. Once a practitioner of kendo, he is now a warrior of a self-taught art.

"Ichika," Houki Shinonono calls with a flat voice, "How do you wish to settle this match?"

The boy taps the sword on his shoulder twice, "Let's see, how about the first clean hit wins the round, five sets match with no bests, a ten minute limit per round, and anything goes. Is that okay by you, Houki?"

"That is acceptable," the kendo champion agrees as she hardens her stance.

The referee, a senior student of the kendo club, steps forward. She raises her hand, "Set," giving the combatants a two second pause. And cuts her hand down, "Start!" whilst backing away.

The first to act is Houki Shinonono, a quick blazing speed with an overhead strike.

'Fast!' the boy thinks. He had seen the World Kendo Championship on the internet and he knew just how swift the girl was, but seeing it in front of him was a totally different experience.

He steps off to his right and avoids her downward slash, lashing out with his on overhead strike. But Houki slants her sword and blocks with an upward swing.

_PATA!_ The blades collide in a loud sound and tremble against each other. If either fighters were any weaker than they would have flinched from the feedback.

Ichika quickly steps back, ducks down, and sweeps his shinai. The bamboo swords trips Houki on her feet and drops her to the floor causing her to land shoulder first.

"Match, Orimura Ichika!" the referee immediately announces. The crowd cheers.

However, the two fighters were already in their own world. They could see no one but the enemy before them. Silently and steadily they rise off the floor and return to their starting position, facing off against each other with more intensity than before.

There were still four more matches to go.

[...]

The first match went to Ichika Orimura, his unorthodox methods bringing him a swift victory in less than ten seconds.

The second match went to Houki Shinonono, her fast-pace two-handed strikes overwhelmed her opponent and sent him backing into a corner, achieving victory around three minutes.

The third match went to Ichika Orimura, revealing his ambidextrous nature landed him a clean blow, winning victory around four minutes and thirty seconds.

The fourth match went to Houki Shinonono, showing that she was also highly-skilled in Ancient Martial Arts, she abandoned her sword at the last second, shocking her enemy, and tossing him onto the floor with a heavy throw, marking victory around six minutes.

The first four matches were used by the combatants to measure the nuances of their opponent's fighting style. By the time the fifth match came, the two swordsperson fought without holding anything back and their sharpened fighter instincts took front stage, however the fifth match ended in a draw as both warriors were unable to land a decisive blow within the ten minute time limit.

Houki Shinonono's raw strength and nimble speed plus her eccentric martial arts made her a near untouchable fortress with near perfect defenses. Meanwhile, Ichika Orimura's quick strikes and acrobatic agility combined with his hand-coordination made him savage a whirlwind with a strongly unpredictable attack angle.

Regardless of the result, the crowd rowdily cheers at the championship-level of competition.

[...]

The two roommates lean against the wall of the kendo clubroom. A towel is wrapped around their neck as they wipe their drenching sweat and they are somewhat short of breath from the intense workout.

"Hey... Houki-chan..."

"...Hm...? What is it, Ichika...?"

"Mind if I come over again...? For another spar...?"

The girl nods with a light smile, "...I don't mind."

"Great..." he smiles back, "...but I'm not joining... the Kendo Club... just so you know."

"Hmph... That's fine."

"Hey..."

"...What?"

Ichika widely grins, "You think... they would mind... if I use the shower here?"

"Y-You pervert!" she jabs him lightly on the side, he just keeps up his grin and chuckles.

'Yeah,' Ichika idly thinks to himself, 'Since I got to meet Houki-chan again, I guess coming to IS Academy isn't so bad after all.'

* * *

**Author Notes**

We're getting closer and closer to the duel between Yurika and Cecilia. But until then... more slice-of-slice as Yurika settles in. No, wait a second, is the duel already next chapter?

The relationship between Yurika and Houki is pretty different, if only because the years spent apart is ten instead of six. As in, they separated when they were five years old and not nine years old.

Speaking of the duel, let's talk a bit about it early... Yurika will in fact get Byakushiki but only for the Default Setting. Once the First Shift kicks in, Byakushiki is getting an entirely new overhaul. But I don't have a good name for the IS, I'm sorry. My choices are 'Dein Nomos,' 'Garmr Fang,' 'Dark Knight Enforcer,' or 'Fenrisulfr' aka 'Fenrir.' If you have a suggestion, different or otherwise, please feel free to say so; but please don't choose 'Repede.'

Clarifying: I'm looking for suggestions for the name of Yurika's new IS. After Byakushiki goes through First Shift, it will automatically change its name to fit him. If it helps, Abyssion is going to be his weapon, so his IS's design is going to match that.

Though, I admit that Second Star is a pretty cool name/sword, maybe I'll find a way to work that in in the future...

I want to say that I love character interaction. Infinite Stratos isn't a very action-oriented series but sadly most scenes is Ichika being an idiot and the girls trying to win his affection. I really like Yurika because he's a friendly straight-forward guy and his personality easily shines in conversation; seriously, ToV skits were some of the best things that I love about the game. So it really pleases me that this chapter has Yurika chatting it up with Houki in a friendly manner.

There's only 467 IS Cores in canon, I made the number a little larger for scaling purposes...

This chapter was getting really long, so I cut down on the lunch scene... Not that it was really important.

I'm terrible at describing fight scenes... sorry.

* * *

[10/9/12] Chapter uploaded.

[10/10/12] Minor editing, clarified Author Notes.

[11/16/12] More proof-reading and minor editing.


	5. Blue Versus Black

**Brave Infinite Vesperia**

Flight Five

_The Duel Between Cecilia Alcott And Ichika Orimura_

_[Blue Versus Black]_

* * *

Week Two, Monday.

Today was the match between Cecilia Alcott and Ichika Orimura to determine the Class Representative for Class 1-1.

A simple breakfast was had and Ichika Orimura and Houki Shinonono were now walking towards the Third Arena.

"Today's the day, huh," Ichika comments, "Time sure flies."

"Quite," Houki lightly answers.

'You're suddenly cold today, Houki-chan.'

Their footsteps resound gently throughout the empty hallways as they walk without words but eventually the noise of running from the opposite direction could be heard.

"O-Orimura-kun! Orimura-kun! Orimura-kun!" It was Maya Yamada in a strange panicked hurry.

'Please don't trip.' The boy was worried that the woman would hurt herself doing something so obviously strenuous for her rather fragile-looking form.

The assistant teacher soon arrives, completely out of breath.

"Yamada-sensei, calm down and take a deep breath," Ichika suggests and she does as he tells her, "Okay, breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Alright, stop there."

"Mnh!" The green-haired woman actually holds her in instead of stopping the exercise.

'This... is too easy,' the boy muses. The child-like adult had just becoming more endearing to him as it looked like Maya Yamada was cutely pouting.

The woman lets out the contained air and inhales fresh oxygen, she looks at her student with innocent expression, "H-Huh?! O-Orimura-kun, did I do it wrong? D-Did I do it wrong...?"

"Nope, not at all, Yamada-sensei. It was perfect," Ichika humbly answers, 'Ah, don't give me such a cold look, Houki-chan.'

_PANG!_ The back of Ichika's head is struck.

"Have some respect for your elders, you idiot," came the stern voice of Chifuyu from behind him.

The teen chuckles, "But it's just so fun to tease her."

His older sister does not answer him but does not deny his claim either. Truly, they were siblings.

"E-Eh? A-A-Anyways!" the assistant teacher pipes up, "It's here! Orimura-kun, your PUIS is here!"

Ichika's heart practically skips a beat, 'It's here...!'

"Orimura, hurry up and get ready. You only have a limited time to use the Third Arena, so make this match yours," Chifuyu states.

"Since it's only an obstacle of this level, you will no doubt easily surpass it, Ichika," his childhood friend positively adds.

The lips of Ichika Orimura curl upward. He wasn't sure if he was smiling, grinning, smirking, but whatever his expression was, he knew that it was an expression of savage joy.

[...]

Ichika waits in the Hangar Two of the Third Arena with Houki and Chifuyu.

He was already fitted into his custom-made Pilot Suit, a body-suit that resembled a Japanese school's traditionally assigned female swimsuit, but in Ichika's case it was a skin-tight body-suit separated into two-halves: the upper tank-top and the lower trunks. Unlike the Vitality Armor Suit, which resembled a suit of Western medieval armor, the Pilot Suit was not designed to protect the wearer, instead it was meant to slightly increase the synchronicity between pilot and machine. And on top of his head were also two hairclips, or 'Interface Headset' as they were technically known; small processing units used in conjunction with the pilot suit to monitor the status of the pilot and further increase the synchronicity between human and machine.

"Due to some technical problems, your VAS won't be ready for two more days, Orimura," Chifuyu states clearly, "So try and avoid taking direct hits, if you can."

The teen nods, "Right."

The cargo bay door whirls and churns as it opens up. Slowly a resting machine is pushed forward and toward the group. It is a dull gray Infinite Stratos lying dormant in a relaxed position. It was smooth and metallic but plain in design with large gauntlets, large greaves, a small body harness, and large pauldron-looking boosters; a machine that lacked a proper identity, like an unpainted figurine.

"This is Orimura-kun's PUIS, 'Byakushiki'!" comes Maya Yamada's voice through the speakers of the hangar. She was currently at the command center for the Third Arena.

"My very own IS... Thanks, Orimura-sensei," Ichika smiles.

The teacher raises a brow, "What are you thanking me for?"

"You said it before, right? That this isn't from a government sponsor."

He figured that Chifuyu had ways of contacting the supposedly missing Tabane Shinonono and that this machine and its core was a personal donation from the other woman. Though, he wasn't about to say the scientist's name in front of Houki anytime soon.

The First Brynhildr closes her eyes and opens them again, "Get a move on, Orimura, your duel is about to start. We don't have time to adjust your IS to you, so you'll have to deal with the default setting. Your formatting will have to be done mid-battle, but you'll lose if you can't do that. Understood?"

"Yeah, I got it," Ichika answers as he places a hand on Byakushiki's frame. Information is sent into his mind just like that day at the entrance exam, however, it is softer and flows smoothly like water and seeps into him, yet it is not something he can completely grasp; it is intuitive but will fade away given time.

Chifuyu instructs Ichika on how to wear his inactive IS; the last time he had done so the process had been automatic. "Relax and lean on your back. If you're doing it right then it'll feel like sitting on a chair." Ichika slips his hands into the gauntlets and greaves and they fastened themselves onto him; the body-harness firmly wraps itself around his waist. "Good, that means you're connected. Next, you need to start up your IS. That's as simple as telling it to start up."

"Start up!" he shouts.

Byakushiki hums to its pilot's voice and activates. More sensory information blinks into Ichika's mind and the world becomes clearer to him.

_[Priority Check] [Byakushiki - Default] [Adjusting] [Pilot Status - Normal] [Adjusting] [Connection - Normal] [Adjusting] [Energy - 6750] [Adjusting] [Priority Check] [Scanning] [Unknown Infinite Stratos Detected - Stand By] [Scanning] [Data - Processing] [Registry - Blue Tears - Cecilia Alcott - England Representative Cadet] [Data - Processing] [Priority Check]_

"The High-Spec Sensors should have activated just now. Ichika, are you feeling alright?"

'Chifuyu-nee must be really worried if she's skipping formality,' the boy notes the use of his first name, "Ah, yeah, I'm feeling fine, Chifuyu-nee. Everything is a-okay," he grins.

"I see," she states calmly.

'But, man, seeing without looking is really odd...'

The world as perceived through the 'eyes' of an Infinite Stratos is an incredible thing; its 'sight' is a full 360-degree all around it, therefore it has no blind-spot. However, there is a limit to the amount of conscious information that the human mind can process, so most of this is relegated to the background and is more of a sixth-sense of sorts.

Concentrating on Houki, he could 'see' that she wanted to say something to him but couldn't find the right words.

"Hey, Houki-chan," Ichika calls out to her.

"Wh-What?"

"I'm off," he smirks, "Let's have a party after I come back, alright?"

"Ah... jeez, you really are carefree, Ichika," she sighs before schooling her face, "Go out there and win!"

Ichika chuckles with a nod. He shifts his stance and Byakushiki rises off the floor before dashing forward.

_[Priority Check] [...] [Adjusting] [Priority Check] [...] [Adjusting] [Priority Check] [...] [Adjusting]_

'My first real IS battle... I'm getting chills just thinking about it!'

[...]

The gate opens and the territory of the Third Arena is revealed. It is a large field, roughly the size but a little larger than a football stadium, the ground is made of dirt and only a small segment of the seats are filled with students from Class 1-1.

Byakushiki pushes to the center before coming to a halt.

The match has already begun.

_[Communication - Open - Public Channel]_

"Oh my, so you didn't run away after all," the English IS Representative Candidate remarks with a hand on her hips.

___[Data - Accessing]_ [Data - Processing]

Cecilia Alcott was floating high in the arena sky. Her Infinite Stratos, Blue Tears, was primarily bright blue and then secondarily black and white in color; it had a blue 'skirt' and sharpened wings that looked like bladed weapons. Unlike Ichika, Cecilia had a Vitality Armor Suit and it was in the same color as her IS but the helmet sported a big circular aqua-colored jewel on its forehead. Truly, it gave off the strong impression of a royal knight.

In her hand was a single large-caliber laser-rifle, a Starlight Mk III, variant 'Blue Lance' and its laser could strike anything within range of the arena in half-a-second. Her skirt was, in reality, the 'Blue Tears System,' made up of six close-range interceptor drones called 'Blue Tears,' the namesake of the IS, and beneath the skirt were two long cylindrical missile-pods known as 'Cluster Rain.' Furthermore, the wings were not just boosters but also mid-range weapons named 'Sword Bringer.'

"I'll give you one last chance," the girl points a finger at him.

Ichika scoffs, "Don't tell me your asking me to surrender."

The blond girl proudly snorts, "It's so very obvious that I'm going to be the winner. So why don't you save us both the trouble of going through this farce and give up already? In fact, I might forgive you for your insolence if you apologize to me right now," and she steadily readies the Blue Lance.

_[Warning - Threat Detected - Locked On]_

"Thanks for asking, but I don't plan to bow my head to you, Alcott-san."

"Really? What a pity then...

_[Warning - Danger]_

...farewell, you mongrel!"

_[Communication - Closed]_

A violet beams skims the left wing of Byakushiki. A moment slower and Ichika would have taken a direct hit.

The girl laughs, "Dodge that, did you? Then dance to the song of my waltz!"

She rains down a barrage of precise laser-fire with little to no exploitable openings and Ichika is forced to dodge them on the arena floor. Little by little his shield is worn down yet the boy wasn't worried about his declining energy.

'How do you fly this thing?!'

He was more troubled by how to maneuver his IS in three-dimensions. He 'feels' and 'understands' that he can fly but it is not the same as knowing and experiencing flight for himself; like being told how to drive without ever actually being behind the wheels of a car.

'Kick off the ground, jump, activate the boosters. Yeah, that should do it!' Ichika takes a leap of faith and the boosters flare, bringing him higher into the sky.' Alright, I-" Byakushiki takes a direct punishing hit and shoots straight down to the earth. Ichika quickly regains his bearing and scrambles away before reattempting flight. "Well, that could have certainly gone better..." he mumbles.

The next try Ichika successfully takes to the sky whilst avoiding the attacks from Cecilia's rifle.

'Alright, here we go!'

The girl clicks her tongue and sets aside her Blue Lance, "You're a fast learner... but don't let that go to your head, simpleton!" The Blue Tears System is activated and the skirt detaches piece by piece as small tear-shaped objects speed through the air and close in on Ichika Orimura.

"Woah! Hey! Damn it!"

The Blue Tears Drones move in random zig-zag pattern and fire one at a time rotating their cycle. They were little more than nuisances and individually the damage were but a scratch. However, all together they could whittle through the strongest of defenses and it was almost impossible to escape due to how persistent the drones hounded their target.

"I can't keep dodging forever, I need some kind of weapon or shield," Ichika queries for Byakushiki's armory.

_[Priority Check] [Armory - Weapon - Close Combat Sword - 'Close Combat Sword' - Available]_

"Huh, seriously, a sword and that's it?" Byakushiki's shield drops down to eighty percent. "Ah, well, I'll take what I can get!"

The generic sword materializes in Ichika's left hand. It was the perfect size for an Infinite Stratos but it was actually quite larger than it seemed; about the size of the average human female and only a little shorter than Cecilia's Blue Lance which was slightly taller than the average human male.

The English Representative Candidate scowls at him, "Challenging me with a sword... is that suppose to be a joke?!" Though the boy did not hear it since communication was closed.

"Now to deal with these things!" Ichika shouts. He races towards a drone and cleanly cuts it in half. A second comes up from behind him and he tosses the blade from his left hand to his right, swiftly twists around, and cleaves the drone in two. "Is that all you got!?" he taunts as he speeds onward to take a third. He swings his sword but is struck heavily on the side by Blue Lance's laser. "Okay, this is tougher than I thought," he groans to himself.

He had assumed that Cecilia could not use her Blue Lance whilst in control of the drones because it seemed they required her full concentration to use. While that is indeed true, it is a negligible weakness due to how swiftly she can switch focus between her weapons.

'So she's going to take a shot at me if I go after the drones, huh?' Ichika grins, "Well, I guess it's time to go after the big boss herself!"

Byakushiki dashes in a boost of speed even faster than before. Cecilia is unable to back away because it was not a slash but a jab; the sword connects with her torso and pushes her back.

"Why you...!" she growls but her sentence is left unfinished as she watches two of her drones destroyed before her.

The girl wastes no time and commands her remaining two drones to fly in close. They stick to Ichika's belly and back like pesky mosquitoes as they fire away. He slaps the one in front away but wryly grins. "This is gonna hurt."

The Blue Lance is fired and the direct hit sends him hurtling through the sky. And then another, and another, and another. The shield of Byakushiki takes several hard attacks before Ichika blocks with his sword and regains flight control.

Ichika shakes his head, 'Wish I had my VAS today; would have really helped against this vertigo.'

Because of the way an Infinite Stratos processes information, and of the types of situations they were expected to perform in, there was essentially an anti-vertigo feature installed. However, it was still a rather unpleasant experience; a Vitality Armor Suit would have provided additional support to alleviate such discomfort.

'I don't think that surprise attack is going to work on her again. She's already keeping her distance from me...'

Cecilia Alcott was not firing anymore shots and kept the last Blue Tears Drone by her side. She was waiting for Ichika to approach; if he did then it would just open him up to an attack if he tried to counter the drone first and she was also prepared to strike if he chose to close in on her instead.

_[Communication - Open - Public Channel]_

"Well? How about it? You've seen the difference between us, so why don't you quit now while you can save face?" her voice rings clearly, though there was an underlining tension beneath it.

"Hoh? What are you saying, wasn't the one from before my last chance already?" Ichika taunts while keeping a close eye on her movement.

"I said it before, didn't I? That, because I'm an elite, I can afford kindness to even people like you."

The boy chuckles, "Sorry, but I'm going to have to refuse your offer again, Alcott-san. I'll keep refusing no matter how many times you ask me."

"You... do you seriously think you beat me?" she intones indignantly.

"Well, why don't we keep fighting and see for ourselves, shall we?"

"...I'm going to enjoy shooting you out of the sky."

"Take your best shot, Alcott-san."

_[Communication - Closed]_

'I talked tough but how am I going to break this stalemate?'

Ichika checks his remaining energy shield and sees that Byakushiki had a little bit more than thirty percent left; a few more direct hits from the Blue Lance and it would be game over. He didn't have long to ponder about his course of action though because Blue Tears dashed forward as the winged-boosters, the Sword Bringers, took aim at him.

"How many guns do you have on that thing?!" the boy complains.

Four violet-colored beams shoot forward; their strength and range was somewhere in between the Blue Lance and the Blue Tears Drone. Ichika dodges the first barrage and slides backward. The final drone is launched forward to strike his face but Ichika stabs forward and skewers it.

Left booster, right booster, left leg, right leg; the four Sword Bringers hit within that moment of opportunity and temporarily suspend his movement.

"This is the end!" Cecilia shouts from above; Blue Lance was aimed dead center on its target.

The massive laser-rifle fires and Byakushiki twists the nameless blade to its flatside and blocks the brunt of the force. Three more shots come in quick succession and shatters the defending sword as the gray IS hits the arena floor. Ichika curses as he dives forward to avoid the fifth shot.

_[Warning - Threat Detected - Locked On] [Warning - Danger]_

The back of Byakushiki was exposed but Ichika throws the fragmented sword-hilt and impedes the coming laser long enough for him to escape it. The English IS Representative Candidate clicks her tongue and switches back to her Sword Bringers and a torrent of violet beams stream downward. Ichika initiates another boost and escapes the incoming attack but frowns.

_[Priority Check] [Armory - Weapon - Close Combat Sword - 'Close Combat Sword' - Unavailable]_

'Just my luck, I'm out of weapons...'

[...]

_[Communication - Open - Public Channel]_

"Hmph, seventeen minutes... You're really hanging in there, plebeian. I'll give you credit for that," Cecilia Alcott gloats.

"Thanks for the compliment!" Ichika sounds through gritted teeth as a Sword Bringer's beam glances his right booster.

The male pilot has been on the defensive ever since his close combat sword was shattered and has been unable to close in due to combined firepower of her Sword Bringer and Blue Lance. Byakushiki's shield was now down to a twelve-percent and it was only a matter of time before he was defeated.

'Well, I guess I should be grateful that she hasn't been taken this seriously for awhile now,' he calms himself.

Two voices resound in his head. The first was Chifuyu's advice, 'We don't have time to adjust your IS to you, so you'll have to deal with the default setting. Your formatting will have to be done mid-battle, but you'll lose if you can't do that.' The second was Maya's lesson, 'The First Shift is what occurs when a personalized IS has configured its setting to better match their pilot.'

In front of Ichika Orimura a bar has completed its progress.

_[Priority Check] [Settings - Optimization - Complete] [Confirm - Yes - No]_

"Hey, Alcott-san..."

The girl hums, "What is it?"

"Let's dance," the boy wildly grins.

_[Confirm - Yes]_

The body of Byakushiki begins to illuminate and change. The bulky form of the Infinite Stratos begins to further streamline, the curves disappear and reshape into sharp edges, the previous damages are undone and a portion of the spent energy returns. The entire process takes no more than a few seconds.

_[Shift - First - Fenrir Star]_

Black. The Infinite Stratos once known as 'Byakushiki' has become a dark shade of black and its form is cut into by red lines along with sinister green markings. Its booster has changed from looking like pauldrons to something akin to the paws of a beast with four thin but sharp blades sheathed into them like elongated claws. The body-harness no longer appeared as if it hugged but rather it looked like it was clamped down onto the wearer. The greaves and gauntlets retained the basic shape but were more spiky than before. Overall, it was a devilishly feral appearance.

The English IS Representative Candidate tenses, "F-First Shift?! You... You've been fighting with the Default Setting this whole time?!"

_[Armory - Weapon - Close Combat Sword - 'Abyssion' - Available]_

In the left hand of Fenrir Star was a large red-and-black sword. It was similar in shape and style to the Makhaira used by the Greek or the Falcata in pre-Roman times but was more triangular with a jagged toothy backside. The entire sword was outlined in an intricate red pattern while black filled in the empty spaces; just above the hilt, where the crossguard was supposed to be, was a glowing green jewel.

Ichika swings the blade several times to test it out. 'Well, this is pretty sweet!' and laughs out loud with renewed vigor, "Thanks for the warm-up, Alcott-san, but it's time we get serious and finish this!"

_[Communication - Closed]_

Ichika clenches Abyssion and the sword almost seems to growl with excitement as Fenrir Star takes to the sky with blinding speed.

The Sword Bringers realign themselves as shields to stop the horizontal slash and Blue Tears is forced back by the strength of the heavy blow. The bladed-wings open up to reveal the barrel of Blue Lance but Cecilia hastily dodges to her left as an energy blast flies by.

The boy grins as he launches another attack.

_[Artes - Azure Edge]_

"AZURE EDGE!" he shouts as swings his sword and a large blueish-white ball of energy is released and shoots forward like a bullet in a straight line. Blue Tears dodges once more and Fenrir Star rushes in for an attack.

_[Warning - Threat Detected - Locked On]_

The two canisters on the blue Infinite Stratos' hips rises up and whirls. Its content are ejected and bursts open with dozens of small missiles spiraling toward the sole target. Ichika flies higher into the sky and twists and turns to avoid the homing projectiles that chase after him as tightly as the previous Blue Tears Drones; all the meanwhile he dodges the beams of light being fired from the Blue Lance.

"AZURE EGDE!" Ichika shouts again and the energy attack detonates several of the missiles. 'Damn, how am I suppose to deal with an attack like this?!' It was like fighting a nest of bees; not that Ichika Orimura knew what that would be like. Whatever the case, as a swordsman he was simply not use to fighting such small swarming enemies that also exploded in his face.

Another system alert appears to him with the appropriate secondary information tagging along.

_[Armory - Weapon - Bounded Blades - 'Gleipnir' - Available]_

'Huh, that... that I can use!'

Fenrir Star boosts straight up into the sky, the locked-on projectiles following right behind. The boosters stops and the 'winged-claws' shoot out of their covers yet attached to their end are ribbon-looking 'chains.' The eight blades pierce through the missiles but are in return destroyed by the multiple explosions and the ribbons reel back to the boosters having lost their sharp edge. Ichika dodges to the side as another laser grazes his sides and boosts again to avoid the remaining tracking-projectiles.

"This is getting pretty annoying," the boy pilot mutters. The black IS jets forward towards Blue Tears whilst leading the missiles behind him, "Have a taste of your own medicine!"

The blond girl scowls, "As if I'll fall for an old trick like that!" The hip-canisters churn as a new Cluster Rain is loaded. The large barrels fire their payload; all heading towards the approaching Fenrir Star. "Disappear, you worm! HEAVY RAIN!"

The missiles prematurely detonate on their master's command and fills the airspace with loud explosions.

Surely her opponent could not have survived with their shields intact after an attack like that... however, Cecilia Alcott did not relax, the declaration of her victory had yet to be properly announced. Until then she remained poised for action.

"Gah, you troublesome fool!" she complains at a warning notice. The Sword Bringers aim downward at the incoming, and relatively unscathed, black IS. They fire and are met with an Azure Edge. The four violet beams cut through the opposing energy blast but their reduced strength skims harmlessly off the barrier of Fenrir Star.

The black IS boosts with tremendous speed and tackles Blue Tears. Cecilia blinks in horror as she sees a raised fist glow with power.

_[Artes - Cerberus Strike]_

"CERBERUS STRIKE!" Ichika shouts out. The fist lands land three quick hits and he continues with another move. "AZURE EDGE!" The girl cries out in pain as she is flung backward by the combination attack and Fenrir Star immediately trails right behind; it will not allow its prey to retreat using the backlash. "It isn't over yet!" the male pilot yells out proudly, "Take this!"

_[Artes - Lone Wolf Charge]_

"LONE WOLF CHARGE!"

A mighty fist punches Cecilia in the abdomen and then explodes in a furious roar. The rending attack drops Blue Tears' shield immediately to zero.

The buzzers ring and the surprised yet happy tone of Maya Yamada fills the arena.

"M-Match, end! Winner, Orimura Ichika!"

Ichika chuckles as he twirls the sword in his hand. He could hear the rowdy cheers of his classmates from far down below and waves his hand to them. Next he takes a look at the English IS Representative Candidate who was in shock as she floated listlessly in the air.

_[Communication - Open - Public Channel]_

"Hey, Alcott-san!"

"...W-What is it, you... you oaf...?" she asks somewhat meekly and with less energy than usual.

Ichika replies honestly, "That was fun, I had a blast. Thanks."

"T-Thanks? You're thanking me for something like this?"

"Well, there was something else I wanted to say," he grins, "Do you remember our bet?" The female pilot goes silent. "I, Orimura Ichika, hereby give Cecilia Alcott-san her first order!" the boy speaks in a falsely regal tone, "From now on... You must spar with me in IS!"

"...H-Huh?" she gasps.

"Ah, don't tell me that it's too difficult of a job for you, Alcott-san," the boy jokes.

"N-No, of course not!" she indignantly responds, "But asking for a simple request like that..." she trails off.

Ichika puts out a hand, "I'll be looking forward to training with you, Alcott-san," he smiles.

Cecilia's helmet vanishes and is replaced with a jeweled-tiara. Her blond hair gently wafts in the air as she takes his presented hand and shakes it. "F-Fine," she lightly stutters before letting go of his hand, "Y-You better feel grateful for this."

He chuckles and lightly bows, "It'll be an honor."

The English girl merely huffs and turns her face away and the boy simply gives a pleasant smirk at her reaction.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Well, this chapter certainly took awhile... was it worth it? Most definitely not... maybe? Sorta? Somewhat...?

So here we go, I got at least three votes for Second Star and two votes (three, including myself) for Fenrisulfr/Fenrir, thus we compromise with Fenrir Star. Because when Second Shift happens, it becomes a ridiculously long name if I don't make it short right now.

Also, I might not have remembered all the Artes perfectly...

What are the energy-levels (ENRG)? I really don't know, it's always been vague in canon, hasn't it? Therefore, let's make it up.

There are three main generations: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The 4th Generation is still in the ground-works.

We'll consider 1st Generation to be the weakest, where most of the frame-work was being created; so around 2000 Energy as an average. 2nd Generation is around the time they made basic add-ons (Equalizers), but only slightly improved the base-parameter of IS; so around 2500 ENRG but 3000 with a energy equalizer. 3rd Generation is when more weapons are installed, and that requires load more energy capacity; so around 5500 ENRG and 7000 with an equalizer.

This is for Default Settings only. If an Infinite Stratos has gone under First or Second Shift then it will generally unlock a larger energy capacity.

So how is the energy distributed? I don't know that either.

I would assume that about 30% of the maximum capacity is kept in reserved for the Absolute Protection for fatal attacks, 50% is spent on the regular shielding, and the remaining 20% is used for the weapons (if energy dependent or to bring them out from dimensional pocket). In general, a pilot can freely exchange shielding and weapons for a total of 70% ENRG consumption, but only the IS has access to the last 30%.

But wait! What about movement? Where's the energy for that?

Well, that was all 'the capacity to hold energy' and not 'the ability to generate energy.' It might have been a problem of output in the earlier generations, but the 2.5th and 3rd Generation can self-sustain their constant movement without needing to supplement themselves with stored energy at all. However, they don't generate enough energy to restore their Shields. At least, not in a competitive environment where constant movement is key.

Then what about Mass Production Earth Bound Model (MPEBM)?

Well, since they have degraded cores, at best they have around half the capacity of whatever generation they belong to. But the biggest point is that they cannot replenish energy on their own.

So, what kind of energy does an IS produce?

Um, yeah, I'm going to have hand-wave that.

And I think that about covers everything...

* * *

**Other Notes**

By the way, canonically, Default Setting Byakushiki has about 570 Shield Energy. So that means I'm scaling up with these numbers. In fact, let's say that I'm up-scaling everything! Except breast sizes... hahaha...

It feels like Yurika's Byakushiki/Second Star Fenrir comes with an automatic Magic Lens... That happens in canon, actually; Byakushiki starts scanning Blue Tears the moment it activates all the way from the hangar. Though most of the information seems to have flew over Ichika's head.

'Blue Lance' is actually 'Blue Pierce.' I don't properly recall if her skirt is the Blue Tears System or if the wings are, so I made them separate weapons.

Oh, and I want to mention that the shields aren't 'bubble-barriers,' they're the 'form-fitting' types.

* * *

[11/16/12] Chapter uploaded.

[11/16/12] Wrinkled out some of the 'Buts' and 'However' from the battle. Smoother flow?

[12/5/12] Narrative flow improved?


End file.
